


An Alternate History

by MilkMoustachesAreCool



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 08:15:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4472003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilkMoustachesAreCool/pseuds/MilkMoustachesAreCool
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who could have dealt perfectly with the situation, after all? Being presented with a new half-brother you never knew about who was all of a sudden living in your house, taking your favourite spot on the couch, eating the end of the cereal? Pedro had never asked for a brother. Especially not one who clearly didn’t belong in this family. John was just so different from Pedro. And he never even made an effort to fit in. How was Pedro supposed to respond to the situation? He was just a teenage boy, surely he was allowed to struggle with it?</p><p>But then an alternate history flashed before Pedro’s eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Alternate History

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I literally just threw this together from some vague thoughts in my head, it's a bit rambly and my tenses are kind of all over the place but I just wanted to explore this idea.
> 
> I'm not sure why I like writing Pedro so much, considering he's by far my least favourite character in NMTD (please don't shoot me, I just can't quite forgive his general dickishness, even aside from the Birthday thing, I just find him to be a bit of a dick in general) That said, Balthazar is probably my favourite character so I like to try and redeem Pedro somehow just to make him worthy of Balthazar :) don't know if it works and don't know if this fic is even really readable but it's 2am and I just want to post it so yeaaah...yep. Here you go. Enjoy :)

Pedro sat in his bedroom, his head in his hands. How had it come to this? When had everything become so fucked up? His life used to be so ordinary – almost boring. He got up, went to school, saw his friends, practised football, studied, talked to his family, watched TV – all normal things that everyone does. Then out of nowhere it all changed. Most of his friends weren’t talking to him. He couldn’t even keep track of who was talking to who anymore. Beatrice and Ben weren’t talking to him and Claudio, Meg wasn’t talking to Robbie or Hero. Hero wasn’t talking to anyone. Neither was John. Until just now, that was.

Pedro finally closed his laptop. His brother’s face somehow stayed in front of his eyes, however. He couldn’t tell how to feel. Angry? His brother had just admitted to putting an elaborate scheme together just to make Pedro look and feel like shit. Ashamed? After all, John was right. Pedro hadn’t exactly been the most welcoming brother. Embarrassed? John had just published a video outlining some of Pedro’s worst features for all their friends and the whole internet to see. Guilty? In a convoluted way, it could be argued that he was to blame for everything that had gone wrong, beginning a few years ago when John had come to live with them. Justified? Who could have dealt perfectly with the situation, after all? Being presented with a new half-brother you never knew about who was all of a sudden living in your house, taking your favourite spot on the couch, eating the end of the cereal? Pedro had never asked for a brother. Especially not one who clearly didn’t belong in this family. John was just so different from Pedro. And he never even made an effort to fit in. How was Pedro supposed to respond to the situation? He was just a teenage boy, surely he was allowed to struggle with it?

But then an alternate history flashed before Pedro’s eyes. Balthazar coming into school one day, looking confused.

“Pedro, there’s something I need to tell you,” he would say. “I don’t really know where to start. My dad – my dad just told us yesterday. It turns out – I have a brother.”

“A brother?” Pedro would be shocked. “What do you mean?”

“My dad apparently had another kid with another woman. They live in England. Well, lived. Apparently she just passed away and John – the kid, my brother – he’s coming to live with us.”

“What?” Pedro would demand incredulously. “Oh my God, Balth, are you okay about all of this?”

And this is where the differences would begin: “Yeah man, I mean it’s a lot to take in, but mostly I just feel so bad for John. I mean, his mum just died and now he’s being uprooted, shipped off to the other side of the world and thrown into a completely new family. I honestly don’t know how I could possibly handle all of that. The poor guy.”

No mention of the impact it would have on Balthazar. No mention of how could dad do this to us, or why does he have to stay with us, or even what if we don’t get on. Just plain concern and understanding for this poor stranger on the other side of the world.

Fast forward another week or two and the stranger arrives. The first night, Balthazar refuses to go out with his friends even though they’re going to see a movie he really wants to see.

“I want to spend some time with John, make sure he settles in all right. I’ll ask him if he wants to come with us, but he’s been travelling all day, he’ll probably just want to sleep or something. I’ll see it another time anyway – maybe with John, who knows?”

When John arrives, he’s shown his new bedroom. Balthazar would offer to swap if John prefers his room, but John would be happy with the room he’s given. Balthazar leaves John for an hour or so to settle in, then he knocks softly on the door and pokes his head into the room. John sits quietly on the bed, his suitcase still untouched.

“Hey, can I come in?” Balthazar would ask hesitantly, before entering the room when John motioned him in. “So, hey, we didn’t really get a chance to meet properly before. So obviously you know my name is Stanley, but really everyone just calls me Balthazar or Balth or any variations of that – it’s my middle name.”

“Cool,” says John unenthusiastically. Not to be discouraged, Balthazar would walk across the room and sit down at the desk, turning the chair out.

“Need help unpacking?” Balthazar would ask, nodding to the full suitcase in the middle of the room.

“I’ll do it in a minute I just…” John trails off and shrugs. Balth would just nod understandingly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, I mean it’s not really important, is it?” Balth would give a little chuckle.

John just sits there, not really engaging with anything Balthazar is saying. The atmosphere is a bit awkward, but Balthazar wouldn’t give up. He wouldn’t leave the strange, quiet new kid to sit alone in his bedroom. He wouldn’t roll his eyes as he closed the door after him thinking God, what have I gotten myself into? He would sit there quietly, letting John know that Balthazar was there for him.

“Oh, and feel free to kick me out at any stage,” he would say, but good-naturedly. Implying that he was happy to just hang out unless John wanted to be alone. John would give a half smile and assure Balthazar that he didn’t mind, he could stay as long as he wanted. The beginnings of an actual sibling relationship might even start. Balthazar would tell some stupid story about the time he hit his head on the windowsill in this room when he was a kid. John would laugh. His face would brighten a bit. Later Balthazar would tell him that if he ever wanted to talk or moan or rant about anything, he could always come to Balthazar. John would believe him when he said it. Because Balthazar would mean it.

Fast forward again to the first day of school. Balthazar would walk with John, declining his usual lift with Pedro (there was only one spare seat in the car). They would laugh on the way to school as Balthazar tried to prepare John. He would warn him about the different teachers, who to stay away from, who to suck up to, what topics to leave unmentioned in what classes, great tricks of wasting time in class – always, always, always ask Mr. Bates about the time he was mugged. Always. Balth would talk about his friends, describe their personalities and the kinds of arguments that tend to crop up between some of them at lunch time. Balth would sit beside John in homeroom, instead of taking his usual seat beside Ursula. He would introduce John to all his friends individually throughout the day, not just bombard him with names and random details and leave him to fend for himself. He would be observant at lunch and not interrupt John and Ben when they seemed to hit it off, leaving them to chat together for a while. When it looked like it was all becoming a bit much for John, Balthazar would make excuses and offer to show John the library, leaving his friends and his half-eaten lunch behind to make sure his new brother was doing okay. John would smile thankfully. They would spend the rest of the lunch period in comfortable silence, browsing through the library.

Fast forward once more, a few years from then, and John would be at home. Hero wouldn’t be in hospital. If anyone had stopped talking to anyone else, it would have nothing to do with John or Pedro. Pedro wouldn’t be sitting here, feeling like shit.

It was all his fault, he realised. Maybe his vision hadn’t been one hundred percent accurate – even with Balthazar around, John still might have struggled a bit. Still might have been moody. Maybe he still would have hated Pedro, even if he didn’t have to live with him. But maybe, just maybe, if Pedro was more like Balthazar, all of this could have been avoided. Because that was the point, wasn't it? Balthazar wouldn't have thought about himself, he would have thought about John. That was something Pedro had never done.

Pedro made a decision in that moment. He would be more like Balthazar in the future. He would be more understanding. He would make an effort. Not just with John (although most importantly with John), with everyone. He would stop seeing himself as this ‘All Round Great Guy’ – after all, that was clearly bullshit. He could see that now. But he would be a better person in the future. More like Balthazar. When (not if) John finally came home, the first thing Pedro would do is give him a big hug. A sincere one. It would be the start of a new Pedro. Pedro point two – the Balthazar-inspired version.

He didn’t give much thought to why Balthazar was his inspiration. It didn’t strike him as odd that he thought so highly (or so often) of Balthazar – after all, it was Balthazar. That was how everyone thought about him, right?

**Author's Note:**

> PS I may change the title if I can think of a better one (I hate coming up with titles, I can never think of good ones)! Also may edit and/or delete these notes when I wake up tomorrow and realise how rambly (is that even a word?) they are. Be warned!
> 
> Other than that I hope you enjoy (/can actually understand) this story! :)  
> -Love, 2am brain that doesn't really function


End file.
